London named world’s top tech hub as leaders descend on the capital June 10, 2019 London has been named the top city in the world for foreign direct investment from overseas tech companies. The capital attracted significantly more projects in 2018 than any other country, according to data from London & Partners. It racked up 91 tech investment projects to the tune of £864m in the last 12 months, compared [...]
AI to boost British GDP by a fifth in the next decade June 10, 2019 British companies that fully incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their organisations could increase their economic value by 120 per cent by 2030, while the technology itself could provide a 22 per cent boost to UK GDP. Similarly, companies that adopt AI late or not at all could lose around 20 per cent of their [...]
London leads Europe’s tech unicorn herd June 9, 2019 The UK is now home to over 70 tech unicorns, having created more than one billion-dollar company every month in the last year. Britain has more than double the amount of unicorns as the next highest-ranking European country, and comes third globally to the US and China, according to data from Tech Nation and Dealroom. [...]
Trump ‘could ease’ restrictions on Huawei if trade talks advance June 9, 2019 US President Donald Trump may relax restrictions on Chinese tech firm Huawei if the two countries make progress in ongoing trade talks, his treasury secretary has said. Read more: MPs to question Huawei as part of investigation into 5G security risks Steven Mnuchin said the US may be willing to reconsider its approach towards Huawei [...]
G20 vows to crack down on tech giant tax havens by 2020 June 9, 2019 Tech giants such as Facebook and Google will face a crackdown to ensure they pay their corporate taxes in full, after G20 finance ministers vowed to wrap up new laws by the end of the year. In a communique issued after a meeting in Japan, the finance ministers said they would compile new rules to [...]
Nasa opens International Space Station to tourists from 2020 June 8, 2019 Nasa will allow tourists to visit its International Space Station from 2020. The US space agency announced it would open the station up to tourism and other business ventures. Read more: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised more than £1bn in six months It will cost each person $35,000 (£27,500) per night to stay there. The [...]
Would you want to be trained by an AI? June 7, 2019 By 2025, five billion people will be connected to each other through four billion smartphones and 50bn other devices. This will produce new data at unimaginable rates. Add in exponential growth in artificial intelligence (AI) – which is predicted to generate 1.7MB of data for every person every second by this time next year – [...]
Facebook rips apps off new Huawei smartphones June 7, 2019 Facebook has suspended pre-installation of its apps on new Huawei phones, dealing the latest blow against the beleaguered Chinese telecoms giant. The apps affected by the suspension will include Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. Customers who already have Huawei phones will still be able to access and update their apps. But the company’s new phones will [...]
Google: Huawei ban is a national security risk June 7, 2019 Google has warned the Trump administration it risks compromising US national security if it pushes ahead with planned restrictions on Huawei. Senior executives at Google are pushing US officials to exempt it from a ban on exports to the Chinese company, according to the Financial Times. The Trump administration announced the ban after trade talks [...]
Fashion app Depop grabs $62m from Airbnb and Uber investor June 7, 2019 British fashion marketplace app Depop has today closed a series C funding round at $62m (£48.8m), led by US venture capital stalwart General Atlantic. Existing investors HZ Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures and Tempocap also participated in the round, alongside Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Depop said it will use the funding to expand [...]